Spring Valley

• Caesar Creek LakeBuilt 1978 · 2830 acres

How Spring Valley began

Spring Valley was platted in 1844 (1845 in Dills's 1881 county history) by Edward and Moses Walton on a slope above the Little Miami River. A hamlet called Transylvania, laid out by Jeffrey Truman about 1820, stood across the river, and after the Panhandle Railroad was built in 1845 the population moved to the village's present center. The 1908 county history calls the village's mineral springs its proudest possession and lists a pork-packing firm, Byrd & Walton, a flouring mill, a canning factory and a concrete-block factory among its businesses. The village had 415 residents in 2020, and George Barrett's 1853 poured-concrete house at 4 East Main Street is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Settled soon after 1803 (as Transylvania), platted 1844 (Dills's 1881 county history gives 1845), by Edward Walton and Moses Walton.

Where the name comes from

The origin of the name is not recorded. The 1908 Greene County history calls the village's springs its proudest possession, with fourteen different kinds of water said to lie within two miles.

Before the town

No village, camp or earthwork specific to Spring Valley itself is recorded. The village sits directly on the Little Miami River, a corridor used by Adena and Hopewell mound-building peoples and later by the Shawnee; no earthwork is placed within the village.

Nations recorded here: Adena culture, Hopewell culture, Shawnee.

Timeline

1. c. 1820 — Jeffrey Truman lays out Transylvania across the Little Miami from the future Spring Valley; by 1881 its old houses are torn down except one used as a shop.
2. 1832 — Michael Daugherty builds an oil and woolen mill where Spring Valley stands; his is the first oil mill in the county.
3. 1844 — Edward and Moses Walton plat Spring Valley on the slope above the Little Miami River; Wikipedia dates the plat 1844, Dills (1881) 1845.
4. 1844 — George Barrett builds a woolen mill at Spring Valley.
5. 1845 — The Little Miami (Panhandle) Railroad reaches the valley, drawing the village's growth from the river's west bank toward the tracks on the east side.
6. 1853 — George Barrett completes the poured-concrete house at 4 East Main Street, later listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
7. 1870 — The census counts 290 people in Spring Valley.
8. 1880 — Spring Valley has 376 people in the census and a three-grade school on a rise east of the village.
9. 1890 — Spring Valley's population reaches 538.
10. 1907 — A new concrete-block school and a concrete-block Methodist Episcopal church of $8,000 are built.
11. 1908 — The village has grown to about 700 people (up from 522 in 1900) and supports a flouring mill, two saw mills, a canning factory and a concrete-block factory.
12. 1950 — Spring Valley's census count rises to 645, up from 468 in 1940.
13. 1960 — Village population peaks at 678 before beginning a long decline to 415 by the 2020 census.
14. 1986 — The George Barrett Concrete House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Stories

The Barrett concrete house

The George Barrett Concrete House at 4 East Main Street in Spring Valley dates from 1853 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 10, 1986, for its significance in architecture and invention. George Barrett also built a woolen mill at Spring Valley in 1844, and Dills's 1881 county history names him among the township's enterprising manufacturers.

A well drilled for oil strikes mineral water

The 1908 Greene County history calls the springs of Spring Valley its proudest possession, with fourteen different kinds of water said to lie within a radius of two miles. A well drilled for oil found mineral water instead, from 1,450 feet below the surface, whose chief constituents are common salt and Epsom salts. The same history names the pork packing and shipping company of Byrd & Walton among the village's early businesses.

The oil mill on the Little Miami

Michael Daugherty was born in Philadelphia in 1801 of Irish parents. In 1829 he began making linseed oil on Glady Run in what is now Spring Valley Township, and in 1832 he built a mill where Spring Valley now stands, making oil and woolen goods for years. The 1881 county history says his was the first oil mill ever built in the county. He also kept a dry-goods store, packed pork, and drove cattle to eastern markets, and reared ten children. By 1881 he and Moses Walton, the village's co-founder, were the two pioneers still living, both having reached a ripe old age after active business careers.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · ohiogenealogyexpress.com · gohistoric.com · en.wikipedia.org · commons.wikimedia.org · archive.org

Every historic place in Greene County on the full map

Mostly private wells The water here

• Spring Valley Village63% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Greene County - southwest Reg Water32% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Spring Valley Estates MHP5% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Superfund sites (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2021: 1 of 1 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Source: Ohio EPA eDocument portal (edocpub.epa.ohio.gov), indexed 2026-10-14. Facilities are placed on the map from Ohio EPA's own map layers, EPA's Facility Registry, coordinates written in the filings, or a geocoded street address. A permit filed under a private person's name (most are household septic systems) is counted but never named, placed or linked; licenses for individual workers and open-burning notices are left out entirely.

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